Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #1 is written by Marguerite Bennett and published by BOOM! Studios. Illustration is by Andrew Lee Griffith, colours by Joshua Jensen and letters by Ed Dukeshire. Main cover art (left) is by Jim Cheung.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #1 is available from today, in comic book stores and on digital platforms where all good comic books are sold. Grab your physical copy from Forbidden Planet or digitally from Amazon Comixology UK.
Synopsis
It’s been ten years since the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers turned in their morphers and went their separate ways. But now they’ve been called back to the legendary Command Center to face a new, terrifying form of a familiar foe: Rita Rabiosa.
They may not be teenagers with attitudes anymore, but are they still the same heroes they once were?
Review
After a brilliant experiment with Power Rangers Prime, this week BOOM! Studios is returning to something a little more traditional. It’s the return of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers name alongside a brand new creative team. But after the unique approach of creating an entirely new timeline, can Marguerite Bennett‘s continuation of the MMPR characters story ignite another fan-favourite run?
First issues are always an interesting beast. Which direction do you go: world-building? Character-building? Action-orientated? There’s merits to every approach and I’m always intrigued to see where a creative team decides to go. Particularly when it involves a high profile IP such as Power Rangers. To a degree there’s an understanding that the audience is already baked in and knows who these characters are. But we’re also returning to their story a decade after their heroic careers initially came to an end.
Naturally there’s a hunger and a curiosity from the audience to know who Jason, Zack, Trini, Kimberly and Billy are in the present day of Bennett’s story. However rather than dwell on that character-building aspect Bennett has opted to go for the more action orientated route. There’s a little bit of scene setting in the beginning. Introducing Rita Rabiosa as an intriguing new villain. What’s her connection to Rita Repulsa? Is she the same person from another dimension? A relative? Those questions will have to wait for now as Bennett focusses on making this new Rita a credible threat rather than fleshing out backstory.
Rightly, there’s a little more time spent on bringing each of the Rangers back into the fold. As was seen in Power Rangers Zeo and Power Rangers Turbo, Billy stayed working with future Rangers to aid in their mission. His connection to the Command Centre and Zordon’s mission is pitch perfect for bringing the rest of the team back together. So through him we get a rapid lesson on the futures of each of the other members of the team. Bennett neatly ties in Netflix’s Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once and Always special by bringing Minh Kwan into continuity as well.
By page six Bennett is dispensing with re-introductions and getting down to business. The rest of issue #1 is dedicated to the Rangers first battle with Rita and by page 10 they’re Morphed and ready for action. The new uniforms look great too. Illustrator Andrew Lee Griffith and colourist Joshua Jensen bring the team to life in typically dynamic fashion. They’ve had a little contemporary upgrade but it still feels in keeping with the design language of the original series without veering into the more armoured territory with either of the Power Rangers big screen outings. Griffith’s design allows for a little more colour tone which Jensen is clearly having fun with. The darker accents to the costumes add an extra dimension which gives me a strong 80’s action-cartoon vibe so I’m here for it.
Bennett mirrors the format of an episode from the show neatly, beginning with a street-level hand-to-hand fight with Rita’s lethal, spiked tech. When the Rangers become overwhelmed and the villain gets super-sized then it’s time to bring in the classic Dino Zords. Bennett sidesteps the Thunder Zords which first appeared alongside Lord Zedd. It looks like this Mighty Morphin Power Rangers is sticking to the design language from the first season which makes perfect sense as a story choice. The scope and scale work well in setting Rita up as a formidable villain and lead us into an interesting and unexpected cliffhanger.
The idea of including Tommy will please fans. There’s no mistaking he’s the character 90% of fans think of first when they think Power Rangers. Every book has found a way to honour the memory of Jason David Frank following his passing and it seems like Bennett will do that in her own unique way here. The final panel showing Tommy amongst what appears to be real dinosaurs is certainly an intriguing point to close out issue #1.
Given that we’ve been here before several times in the history of the Power Rangers franchise, Bennett and the creative team has done a strong job in laying out their stall. The choice to sidestep character-building for action may not be to everyone’s tastes. But there’s no denying that Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #1 is a strong debut that grasps at the reader the second Rita makes her first move. Now the train has left the station I can’t wait to see what more is in store for these older, wiser Rangers.
Verdict
A kinetic, grand-scale debut that hits the ground running. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #1 is perhaps a little too fast to let its characters breathe, but with enough intrigue woven into the action to make issue two essential reading.
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